Welcome to Texas justice: You might beat the rap, but you won't beat the ride.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Surveillance blimps a fine place to start military budget cuts

A US Air Force surveillance blimp, soon to lose funding

At Texas GOP-Vote, David Bellow laments that the Obama Administration will end a contractor-run program along the Texas-Mexico border operating blimps as part of what the Air Force called its Tethered Aerostat Radar System, or TARS, which "is an aerostat-borne, surveillance program." (If you, like me, didn't realize that "aerostat" is a synonym for a moored blimp, then we've both learned something today.)

Grits has gotta say, if the federal government must reduce spending, cutting the budget for surveillance blimps to me seems like a good place to start. (Reminds me of the alternate universe from Fringe.) Bellow reports that the contractor sent out an email to its employees, which he reprinted in full, announcing that the Air Force would cease funding for the project as of March 15, 2013. An employee who (understandably) insisted upon anonymity told Bellow that "Without these defense radars, low flying aircraft will go undetected. It will be open season for any drug/gun/slave smugglers, terrorists flying in with nukes, low altitude missiles, or even a full scale low elevation invasion/attack against America.” Uh huh. Those blimps and the Rio Grande were all that stood between us and a "full scale low level invasion/attack," says the anonymous guy who'll lose his job if the contract runs out. Lucky the river's still there. In reality, given the actual nature of border violence and the intense buildup of Border Patrol, customs agents and, often redundantly, the Department of Public Safety, along the Rio Grande, it's laughable to give this contractor's surveillance blimps much credit. One imagines the US Air Force feels perfectly secure they're up to job of stopping a "full scale invasion/attack" from the south without this company's services, since they're the ones who cut them loose. If you do call your Senator or Congressperson, as per Mr. Bellow's request, Grits would suggest telling them, "Support the Air Force's decision and don't spend one more dime on surveillance blimps."

Actually.We have been told from Eastern Air Defense Sector(EADS) and JAITF-South that the information that they receive from the TARS program is very important and vital to their mission. We were tasked to fly during Obama's/Romney's trips to Florida and when other high ranking officials, be it U.S.or a foreign dignetrary are flying in the area. The Mexican border is only a small part of the umbrella. The Cudloe Key and Lajas sites are able to cover areas including Cuba,the Florida Straits and open water areas that no other system is able to cover.This radar is able to pick up moving targets on the water as well. We all know that there is a budget problem happening and U.S. citizens have died in the last few days. Lets dont be short sighted in our thinking about safety.

Blimp Boy, it's perhaps telling that the US Air Force didn't agree that surveillance blimps are "vital" and seem to think they can repel a southern invasion without them.

You suggest that "U.S. citizens have died in the last few days," but that's with the blimps already in place (they're operating through March 15). So, though I'm unaware of your exact reference, whatever it was, the surveillance blimps failed to prevent those deaths. So how is that an argument for keeping them?

Most drug trafficking, by far, happens though the checkpoints, not out in the middle of nowhere where the blimps are located. This is a boodoggle, more security theater than a safety upgrade. When the blimps go away later this year, IMO border security won't miss a beat.

"I always tell people interested in these issues that your blog is the most important news source, and have had high-ranking corrections officials tell me they read it regularly."

- Scott Medlock, Texas Civil Rights Project

"a helluva blog"

- Solomon Moore, NY Times criminal justice correspondent

"Congrats on building one of the most read and important blogs on a specific policy area that I've ever seen"

- Donald Lee, Texas Conference of Urban Counties

GFB "is a fact-packed, trustworthy reporter of the weirdness that makes up corrections and criminal law in the Lone Star State" and has "shown more naked emperors than Hans Christian Andersen ever did."

-Attorney Bob Mabry, Woodlands

"Grits really shows the potential of a single-state focused criminal law blog"

- Corey Yung, Sex Crimes Blog

"I regard Grits for Breakfast as one of the most welcome and helpful vehicles we elected officials have for understanding the problems and their solutions."

Tommy Adkisson,Bexar County Commissioner

"dude really has a pragmatic approach to crime fighting, almost like he’s some kind of statistics superhero"